A new startup, STBL, emulates TradFi’s zero-coupon strip structures by converting digital assets into a dollar-pegged stablecoin and yield-bearing non-fungible token (NFT). Just as with the traditional equivalent, the components can be held separately, allowing investors to keep the part that appeals to them and sell the other bit to counterparties with different attitudes to risk. The product, currently in beta testing, goes beyond just packaging risk into different tranches. It also widens the stablecoin issuance model. With regular stablecoins, like USDT, the issuing company, in this case Tether, keeps the returns on the Treasuries they hold to maintain the token’s peg to the dollar. It’s profitable business, Tether reported $4.9 billion net profit in the second quarter. With STBL, whoever deposits a tokenized asset into the system becomes the minter and keeps the returns. “Our mission at STBL is to evolve stablecoins from corporate products into public infrastructure,” said STBL co-founder Reeve Collins, who was also a cofounder of Tether. “For the first time, minters, not issuers, retain the value of reserves. This is the defining shift of Stablecoin 2.0: money that is stable, compliant, and built to serve the community.” When a yield-bearing on-chain asset is deposited and locked into the STBL protocol, it splits into a stablecoin (USST) that can circulate and serve as collateral or reserves in DeFi and a separate, yield-accruing NFT called YLD.